ether use

[dab67]

The weather this January here in Wisconsin has really been up and down!!!!!!! Believe it or not, one day it was 60 and then the next 20. My point is this, With all the dramatic changes in the weather, I had a real hard time starting my 67 this month and I am guessing it was because of the moisture. I pulled the distributor cap off and sprayed it with WD40 and wipe it out. I have electronic ignition by the way. Still would not start. I then sparyed a little ether in the carb(Quadrajet) and it fire up. My question is this,,,,,,,,,,,,, (finally ) does using the ether to start the car do any damage to the engine or carb?

dab67

[JohnZ]

My question is this,,,,,,,,,,,,, (finally ) does using the ether to start the car do any damage to the engine or carb?

dab67

Not really, but it can create a fireball that will do other damage. If you have fuel in the float bowl and the accelerator pump and choke are working properly, it should fire right up without ether.

[lakeholme]

Be careful, Dave.  I've got a friend who went around without eyebrows for a couple of months using ether to start a riding mower.

[KurtS]

Don't use it on a diesel either!

[z-villejw]

When using it have someone help you. Have them try to start it, while its cranking over give it a shot. It should start. Like JohnZ said check and make sure its shooting gas.

[fireZ]

Be carefull that when you spray it into the carb. We had a fire call at work last week for a fellow trying to start his truck. He sprayed the either into the carb as his wife was turning the key. The carb burped and the fire came up as he was spraying the either,burnt the living %#&* out of his hand. Keep your eyes on it.

[lakeholme]

Besides, if it fired right up with ether; then that really could be a moisture issue.  So, I'd add some gas stabilzer like Sta-bil into my tank.  We definitely have a high humidity, temperature range in the winter here in NC.  I put gas stabilizer in every tank from the Camaro to the push mower.  They all fire right up in the Spring (or in the case of the Camaro, every week in the winter.) 

[duntov3030]

Man, I don't think a can of ether should be in the same shop as a Camaro!  Throw that stuff away and find the real cause of your starting woes.  A properly tuned car with good, fresh fuel will never need ether.  Not dissing on you, I just don't like using ether.

[dab67]

Hey CRG members thanks for the responses. Finally had a chance to look at the forums. I'm not a big fan of having to use ether to get the car started either!!!!!!! I had a friend with me while I was doing this. We checked the carb "before" I put anything into it to make sure the pump and choke were working properly. They "appeared" to be. I held the butterfly open and pushed back on the linkage and gas pumped into the carb. we let it set for about 5 minutes, then I went and pumped the gas pedal twice, like I always do and turned the key. It would not fire up, that is when we put a spray of ether in the carb, then turned the key and the engine fired up. I'm thinking the moisture is playing havoc with everything involved. But,,,,,,,,,,,, I could have a pump going out or the choke is not working properly or a combination of all of the above. Just have to wait and see what happens next month!!!!!!!!!!! I will put an additive into the gas (full tank) to help with the moisture problem like Phillip suggests. I should have thought about that when I stored the car.

Dave

[hotrod68]

I have to defend ether; it's like any other highly explosive chemical--you have to respect it or you'll get your eyebrows burnt off or get a fireball...chuckle. Where most people get into trouble with it, is using it as a sledgehammer to kill gnats. Us country boys have used ether since dirt to start a balky tractor engine on a cold day, and if you understand it, it's your best friend when the mercury is down in it's ball. Today's gasoline doesn't atomize when cold like it did when it was full of aromatics in the old days, and I can understand why Dave's car wouldn't want to hit when it's very cold. Ether is like Brylcreem--a little dab'll do ya. Load an intake tract up with it and you're just asking for trouble if the engine spits back. It's not the ether--it's the sprayer.

[lakeholme]

I don't completely disagree with Hotrod about cold starting on a farm, but Dave presents his real problem as moisture.

Dave,
How cold is it in the space where you store your 67?  What's the humidity when the temperature goes up?

I keep it about 45 degrees F and dry in the garage.

[dab67]

Phillip:

The car is stored in my one car attached brick garage. It is unheated, uninsulated. So the car gets all the good and bad of the winter weather. When it reached 60 degrees here the cement floor was covered in moisture. The engine was also covered in moisture. Then the next day the temp dropped almost 35 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll wait a couple more weeks, sometime in early Feb. and attempt to start it again. Hopefully it is just because of the drastic change in weather that we had.
Just to let you know, during this time of extreme weather conditions, we had a tornado touchdown and do some major damage to a small town called Wheatland just west of  Kenosha where I live. The tornado tracked over the northern edge of Kenosha and did some damage on that side of town. So we have had a funfilled beginning of a new year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dab67

[lakeholme]

Just got my car out of one shop with electrical work ( had to put in a new printed circuit), and then drove it to a paint shop that's a part of the same group as Classic Muscle.  By the late Spring my 68 will finally be de-cloned... which is proving even more expensive. 

I think you ought to at least invest in a dehumidifier.  Any way you look at it, moisture is spelled R-U-S-T...

Hope nobody was hurt in the tornado!  Winter has finally come to NC and is slowly relieving our drought.

[hotrod68]

Hey, Phil--did ya see all the idiots wrecking on the ice Tuesday morning? Right in front of me on a bridge I saw a lady in a Cavalier hit her brakes--wrong move! She tagged the concrete guardrail while a Jeep Cherokee got sideways behind her trying not to hit her. There were many cars in the ditches on my way to work and of course they had the the 20-car pileup on 85/40. Man, it was NASTY out there!

[KurtS]

I think you ought to at least invest in a dehumidifier.  Any way you look at it, moisture is spelled R-U-S-T...

I've tried that. Often it's too cold and the dehumidifier just freezes up.
I'd bag the whole car if you start having rust show up.

[lakeholme]

OK, now you've got my interest up... Do you mean "seal the car" by "bag"?  Is there an effective way to seal up a car without just trapping in the moisture.  I know it is done with boats, but I've always presummed that worked because boats don't rust.  My two garages are full of cars and I've got to get rid of some or find alternate storage.

[dab67]

I thought about bagging it, but I can't resist going out and starting it up just to hear the small block rumble a bit!!!!!!!!!!!! Get behind the wheel and sit wishin I was on the open road. The wife is already planning road trips for car shows. Ya think we got the bug !!!!!!!!!!

Dave

[KurtS]

Yes, they have bags that you drive the car into, toss in a big bag of desiccant (water absorber), and seal shut. Do a google on it.

[lakeholme]

Thanks, Kurt.  With a place on a lake in the humid piedmont of NC, I know all about desiccant use, but I had never seen a car bag --or after googling it, a car jacket.

Hey Dave, take a look http://www.autoanything.com/car-covers/69A1798A-1A1.aspx#customerReview
If nothing else, you really ought to consider a couple of 100 watt light bulbs in a moist garage...

[dab67]

Kurt and Phillip:

Thanks for the info and web site. This looks like it could be the answer to all Midwesterners concerns regarding weather and rodents!!!!!!!!!!
We will definetly look for items like this at some of the bigger car shows, like Iola this year.

Dave

[lakeholme]

Whoops!  Sorry Hotrod, I read Kurt's post weeks ago, and didn't catch yours...  Actually, I'm up in Marion now (Got a promotion, I think!?!), not in the Winston area.  All that ice swept up over us and never hit the ground.  Instead, it dumped on you guys.  Are you coming to the Charlotte Autofair in April?

Hey, Dave, got the mechanical stuff done and now working on the body/decloning/painting stuff.  Ran into some serious rust in the cowl (even though the previous owner said they had "fixed" that).  Believe it or not, the owner of the shop we're working out of had the right part on one of his parts cars.  Must be living right...

[Pex68]

OK, now you've got my interest up... Do you mean "seal the car" by "bag"?  Is there an effective way to seal up a car without just trapping in the moisture.  I know it is done with boats, but I've always presummed that worked because boats don't rust.  My two garages are full of cars and I've got to get rid of some or find alternate storage.

Phill, Dave,
Look up CarCapsule  It's what you need.  They even have one you can keep outdoors.